Questions on incubating!

[Jakrzz]

Okay so I got a new rooster after I discovered the other one I borrowed was six years old and no longer 'interested' and he is wonderful! Today I got 6/8 eggs that were fertile! Anticipating this, I made a styrofoam incubator, because I know for a fact none of my hens would sit.
It's got a 40 watt lightbulb, a small fan for circulation, a dish with water and a sponge for humidity, and enough room for a dozen fertile eggs!
Few questions:
1.) I just turned it on, with no eggs in it, planning to run it a day or two before I put the eggs in, how long will it take to get to the right temp and humidity?
2.) I plan on collecting the dozen fertile eggs from a few select hens, so that's idk.. About 4,5, maybe 6 eggs.. So how do I store the soon to be hatching eggs before incubation? Turning? Etc
Thank you!

 

[Veer67]

1. I have a smaller incubator but I usually let it heats up for a few hours.
2. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ore-eggs-before-putting-them-in-the-incubator

 

[Jakrzz]

Well thank you for the thread!
But uhh it's been running for about an hour and I just went down to check the temp out of curiosity and it was 115•
So I took off the lid and everything hardly felt warm. It's only a 40 watt bulb, and the thermometer is where the eggs would be.. Any ideas? Is this just the incubator regulating?

 

[naightengale]

try a 25w bulb

 

[Jakrzz]

Yeah tried that too... Also tried a 50w red light.. Nothing. But this morning I tried a 25w reptile light and it seems to be stabilized at about 99-100, every now and then it says 102 but I poked decent sized holes and now it's back!